MONEY BACK MONDAY (WAVE) Stephanie Nelson is founder of couponmon.com, and she says there are ways to avoid paying retail for things you use every day, and even special items.
"You never want to pay full price for an item," says Nelson. "In fact you probably never need to pay sale price for an item."
She says there's a simple formula for saving on ANYTHING. The big factor is time. If you take time to find the deals, and match those with other discounts, you can add up some serious savings.
"We call it stacking the savings, it's possible to get things absolutely free," Nelson says.
For example, there are plenty of ways to never pay retail for travel Websites like Travelzoo and Hotwire will send price alerts when airfare drops.
And rental cars, Nelson says your best friend is an entertainment book.
"I have an entertainment book and if you do, which you should, you can go to entertainment.com and register the book and then that enables you to get these really deep discounts on car rentals."
As far as hotels - Nelson says the old-fashioned method of calling the hotel itself could score you an even better deal than a travel website. "Because sometimes they have special rates that they're giving out directly that can save you a lot of money."
Another one you should never pay retail for: clothes.
"Wait for a little time to go by to get the great sale," Nelson suggests. "Combine it with a coupon, you may save 75% on nice clothes."
Other tips for saving on fashions:
- get close to the clerks so you get insider treatment and a heads up for markdowns;
- take advantage of any customer rewards programs;
- and get deals delivered directly to your inbox from stores' websites.
Last on the list: personal care products and groceries. "Because those are all items that frequently go on sale, always have coupons and at the drug stores they have automatic rebates," says Nelson.
She also says 40-percent of the average American's food dollar is wasted because consumers either shop for food and never eat it, or double buy what's already in the pantry. So, make a menu with coupons and sales in mind, make a list, and stick to it.
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